Lounge device



R. E. PHILLIPS July 19, 1986 LOUNGE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 26, 1963 w W m Kr rm ,BE W W. .0 E T 0 m M 2 0D W DHWE 4 00m7 w 6 H XM., wfl M w w/W 0, M 4 4 4 2 hh 4 W July 19, 1966 R. E. PH|LL|Ps LOUNGE DEVI CE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F'lled Dec. 26, 1963 w w W 96 ROBERT E. PH/LL/P Eau/A20 0. OB'e/AA/ A Tree/Lasy United States Patent O ananasa LOUNGE DEWICE Robert E. Phillips, 12217 lredell St., Studio City, Calif. Filed Dec. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 333,459 3 Claims. (Ci. 291-830 This invention is directed to a lounge device panticularly suited for the support of a human body.

Since man has been walking on two feet he has felt the need for resting in a position wherein the load during restin-g was not on his feet. This need for rest has created a demand which has been satisfied by equipment designed in 'two quite separate areas. Probably beds were the first to be created |by mankind t-o improve sleeping conditions. The design of beds over the cen-turies has evolved into a piece of equipment which is eminently suitable to that purpose, but eminently unsuitable for resting in a sitting position. Less success has been met in the design of chairs, which are intended to permit rest in a sitting position. Few chairs are anatomically designed and accordin-gly provide little comfort. Furthermore, while both sitting and reclining are resting positions for man, little work has been done to design anatomically suitable equipment which is convertible for alternative use in resting in such positions.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a lounge device which is particularly suited for proper anatomic rest in both the sitting and reclining position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a lounge device having a frame work with a cushion secured thereto and 'arranged so that both the frame work and cushion are tlexible so that they may be positioned suitably for comfortable sitting and comfor-tab-le reclining.

It is another object of this invention to provide a lounge device suita-ble for comfortable rest in a sedentary position provided with arms positioned for comfortable resting of the arms of a person sit'ting therein.

It is another object of 'this invention to provide a lounge device convertible from sedent-ary to reclining position and to provide arms on the lounge device which are properly positioned for arm rest when the lounge device is in the sedentary position, and are out of the way when the lounge device is positioned in the reclining position.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon a study of the following portion of this specification, the claims and the att'ached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the lounge device in accordance with .this invention showing the device in the sedentary position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the lounge device of FIG. 1, showing the device in a reclining position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view -of a portion of the device shown in PIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a por-tion of the device shown in FIG. 2;

PIG. 5 is a view taken along the line 5- 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevati-onal view of a portion of the linkage of the lounge device of this invention, showing an alternative latch structure therefor; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of another embodiment of a portion of the linkage of the lounge device of this invention.

An an aid to understanding this invention, it can be stated in essentially summary form that is is directed to a lounge device preferably made up of tubular members and links which are suitably pivoted and secured to each other s-o as to make the lounge device suitable f-o'r both sitting vand reclining. Accordingly the lounge device is formed of a fixed bottom frame suitable for ground or floor engagement. Mounted above the |ground engaging 1 and 2 will be seen therein.

3,261,639 Patented July 19, 1966 ICC frame and supported thereby is a cushion supporting frame comprising various members. This cushion supporting frame supports the cushion against which the person rests. Thus the configuration of the cushion supporting frame defines the anatomic Shape of the lounge device. The cushion supporting frame is divided into a lower leg supporting section, upper leg supporting section, seat and back. Additionally, interlinked with the cushion supporting frame and arm rests. All of th-ese elements are connected together onto the ground engaging frame in such a manner that the back may be depressed to horizontal position. When it is so depressed, all of the other elements lie in the same plane, :and the arm rest lies substantially in the plane of the cushion. When the back is moved to a more upright position, the cushion supporting frame moves into a position with a raised back, a depressed seat, and upwardly inclined portion for supporting the upper leg and a slightly downwardly inclined portion for supporting the lower leg. In this position the arm rests are properly positioned with respect to the seat and the back for proper support of the arms. Manually operable lock linka'ge locks the lounge device in the planar, bed position. The lock device is operable by a person lying recumbent upon the lounge device in that position so that the lounge device may be moved from the recumbent, reclining position to the seated position by unl-ocking of the latch and applying a sli-ght force toward the seated position .by the person resting on the lounge device.

A more detailed understanding of this structure will be obtained by a study of the following portion of the specification wherein the drawings are 'referred to in detail. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the lounge device of t'his invention is gene-rally shown at 10. Inasmuch as FIGS. 3 and 4 .are enlarged portions of FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively, many of the parts referred to wi-th respect to FIGS.

The lounge device 10 comprises a ground en-gaging frame 12 which serves as a main frame of the device. Frame 12 is preferably of bent, tubular stock, as is most of the remainder of the lounge device 140. Wheels 14 are suitably supported on frame 12 Inasmuch as it is the purpose of the lounge device 10 to The frame 12 is shown as being curved upwards between the terminal ends, and' this upward curvature, in addition to being aesthetic, serves to define the ground support of the device ltl as being at the ends of frame 12. Frame 12 is of generally U shaped configuration lying substantially parallel to the ground plane 16 with its open end closed by the aXle `for Wheels V14. Thus, a rigid main frame is defined for the support of the remainder of the lounge device.

Inasmuch as it is the purpose of the lounge device 10 to support the human body, the body supporting portion of the device i-s divided into Sections corresponding to different portions of the human anatomy. The 'actual anatomy supporting structure can be of any conventional type, from cross webbing, through suita-ble cushion to a literal mattress. The support of such anatomy supporting structure is conventional, and is not a part of this invention and therefore it is shown only in dot dash lines at 64. Support for the lower legs is provided by lower leg support member 18 which again is of preferably tubular construction generally formed in U shaped configuration with the open end of the U generally directed to- Ward the upper portion -of the body to be supported thereon. The lower leg support 18 is supported at the open end of the U by means of knee link 20 -Which is pivoted to the main frame '12 by any suitable pivot 22 and to lower leg support 18 at pivot 24. The lower end of lower leg support 18 i's supported from the main frame 12 by means of ankle link 26 which is pivoted to the main frame at pivot 28 and to the lower leg support 18 at pivot 30.

Upper leg support comprises a pair of parallel upper leg support members one of which is seen at 32. The upper leg vsupport member 32, and its companion are pivoted on the knee pivot 24. The other end thereof is pivoted to seat member 34 at 'seat pivot 36. Similarly to the upper leg support 32, the seat is comprised of a pair off parallel links, one of which is the seat member 34. Back support member 38 is another vgenerally U shaped member with the open end of the U directed toward the seat. Back support member 33 is pivoted to seat member 34 by means of back pivot 46. Each of the pivots 24, 36 and 40 preferably comprises a pivot shaft extending entirely across the device lit) and terminating at the corresponding pivot on the opposite side. Tubular spacers are preferably located around these pivot shafts to maintain the width of the device between the various members.

Mounted on the main frame 12 is post 42. As shown in the drawing it is supported -by brace 44 so that it rigidly defines main pivot 46 with respect to the main frame 1-2. Main pivot 46 carries back support member 38 by |means of a pivot tab 48 secured thereto. Pivot tab 48 is located a short distance along the back support member away from back pivot lit). Stop 50 is mounted upon back support member 38 to engage with post 42 when the device 10 is in the horizontal, recumbent position shown in FIG. 2. Each of the various members, and the various links is of proper length, and the pivots are positioned in the appropriate location so that when the lounge device 10 is placed in the recumbent position all members substantially lie in a plane suitable for the support of a cushion or the like. Similarly these parts are of such configuration that when the back support member 3-8 i-s raised to an elevated position, as seen in FIG. l, a properly anatomic chair-like support is defined vfor comfortable sedentary posture, as is seen in FIG. 1.

Arm support post 52 is secured to the main frame 12 and ca'rries -at its upper end arm link pivot 54. Arm link 56 is pivoted at the pivot 54, and is in the form of a bell crank carrying front arm pivot SS at its one end, 'while its other end is pivoted on the seat pivot 36. Arm carries the front arm pivot 58 near its front end, and its other end is pivoted on back support member 38 at pivot 6'2. The configuration of this linkage is such that when the chair is in the sedentary position, as shown in FIG. 1, the arm 60 is in the proper position rfor the arm support of an individual seated therein, and while the device is in the recumbent position of FIG. 2, the arm 60 'must substantially `coplanar with the cushion 64 on the device 10. Arm link 56 serves an additional purpose for it can be seen that the lower leg support 18, knee link 20, ankle link 26 and main frame 12 form a free four bar linkage which does not define the precise position of the lower leg support member 18. Since the upper leg support member 32 and seat member 34 are freely pivoted together and to the lower leg support member 18, no particular position is defined for the lower leg support 18 when the chair is in the sedentary position of FIG. 1. However, arm link 56 fixes the position of pivot 36 with respect to the fixed arm link pivot 54 so that the position of lower leg support member 18 is defined by the position of seat pivot 36, which is in turn defined by the position of the back support member 38. Thus, arm link 56 adds a degree of con- 'straint to the structure so that each movable element of the device 10 is limited to motion along one particular, predetermined path. Inasmuch as it is desired that a slight shift in body weight can cause the lounge device to move from one position to another, the position of main pivot 46 on back support member 38 is important. When this pivot is properly located, only slight effort by the individual resting on the device iii causes the device to move from a recumbent position to the sedentary position, and vice versa.

In view of this balance it is necessary to provide a lock for the device in the recumbent position so that a person 'resting thereon, in his normal movements during sleep, does not cause the device to move toward or into the sedentary position. Several embodiments of suitable locking device-s are shown in the drawings. In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4, upper lock link 66 is pivoted to seat 'pivot 36. Lower lock link 68 is pivoted to upper lock link 66 by pivot shaft 74 and to the structural portion of the main frame 12 at pivot 76. As is seen in FIGS. 3 land 4, the pivot 70 is located on a crossbar 72 which is secured to main frame 12. Any other reasonable positiouing of the pivot 74B than mounting on crossbar 72 is also feasible. The lock link 66 and 68 are pivoted together by means of pivot shaft 74, see PIG. 5, which extends transversely of the device 10.

Lock pivot shaft 74 engages with identical link structure on each side of the device and carries a tubular spacer 76 of the type previously described. The length of the lock link 66 and 68 is such 'that the pivots 36, 70 and 74 will not move into a straight line, see EPIG. 4, When the device is in the recumbent position. Thus, i'n order to hold the device in the recumbent position, the links must be locked so that they do not permit the pivot point 36 to move downward. This is accomplished by slotted stops 78, arranged in duplicate, which engage around the spacer 76. Slot 80 in stop 78 is of such configuration as to engage spacer 76 and hold it in the position shown, by means of an enlargement in the end of the slot. Stop 78 is secured to its own pivot shaft 82 'which extends outwardly through arm support post 52 and is bearingly mounted therein. Secured to each outboard end of the stop pivot shaft '82, outside of the post 52 is lhandle 84 by which the stop 78 is manually controlled. When a person is in a recumbent position and desires to sit up, he grasps one or the other of handles 84 and pulls it toward himself. This unlocks lock pivot shaft 7'4, and a person rnay sit upright and cause the chair to move to the upright position. Such motion is aided :by the fact -that handles 84 move forward, see PIG. 3, as the -device moves towards the sedentary position. As is seen from FIG. 5, actuation of either handle 184 causes unlocking of the lock pivot shaft 74. It can be seen that -gravity causes relocking as soon as the device is moved to the recumbent position.

Locking of .the device in the recumbent position of FIG. 2 may be done in 'a plurality of different ways. An alternative structure is seen in FIG. 6 wherein the same elements of device 10 are indicated by the same numerology. In this ii'gure the recumbent position is shown in full lines 'while the sedentary position is shown in dot dash lines. Only the full line showing is numbered. In this embodiment stop lin'k 84 is of tubular construction in U shaped configuration 'with the open end of the lU pivoted at seat pivot 36. Lower stop link '86 is also of tubular construction and is pivoted at its 'bottom at stop pivot 88 on the main frame 12. Stop pivot 88 comprises a through shaft, with `a handle 94D secured to each end of the rotation of stop pivot 8'8. The two lower stop links 86, one on each side of the device, are secured to the stop pivot '88 so that actuation of the handle 90 controls the lower lin'k 86. Lower link 86 is pivoted to upper stop link 84 by means of look pivot shaft 92 so that the entire lock structure moves together. As is seen 'in FIG. 6, the stop links 84 and 86 are over center construction so that they latch i-nto place and forces urging the device toward the sedentary position only serve to further lock the structure in recumbent position. Actuation of handle 90 pulls the lock structure from the over center position so that the device can move to the sedentary position. In this case, locking is not automatic when the device goes to the recumbent position, but such may be easily arranged by the application of a spring urging the lock structure toward the over center position.

If desired, a simpler over center locking than shown in rFIG. 6 can be provided. As is seen in `FIG. 7, an upper lock link 94 may be pivoted at seat pivot 36 and a lower lock link 96 maybe pivoted to the main frame 12, similarly to the showing of FIG. 6. These two lock lin'ks are pivoted together at 98 and have an end configuration which permits over center looking similar to the structure of PIG. 6. The structure of PIG. 7 may also be Controlled by a manual handle on each side of the device.

It is clear from the above disclosure that this invention is susceptible to numerous modifications a-nd changes without the exercise of the inventive faculty. Accordin'gly the scope of this invention is defined by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A lounge device adapted to the support of the human body and adapted to be moved from a recumbent to a sedentary position, said lounge device comprising:

a main frame, said main frame having sides adapted to support the lounge device by ground engagement, said main frame being substantially rigid and comprising the ground engaging structure of said lounge device;

supporting members on said lounge device, said supporting members being adapted to support the human body, said supporting members comprising a lower leg support member, an upper leg support member, a se-at member and a back support member, said lower leg support member being pivotally connected to said upper leg support member at a first pivot, said upper leg support member being pivoted to said seat member at a second pivot, said seat member being pivoted to said 'back support member at a third pivot, `and said back support member being pivoted yto said main frame at a main pivot;

at leost ffirst, second and third pairs of links, said first pair of links each being pivoted to said main frame and to said lower leg support member, said second pair of links each being pivoted to said main frame and to said lower leg support member at said first pivot, and said third pair of links each being pivoted 4 to said main frame and to said upper leg support member at said second pivot;

said pivots on said lower leg support member thus being constrained to paths of motion which are circular arcs with respect to said main frame, said links yand said pivots being arranged so that when said back support member is pivoted in one direction about said main pivot on said main frame .all of said members su'bstantially lie within a common plane, and when said back support member is pivoted in the opposite direction `about said main pivot, said members position themselves appropriate to support a person in sedentary position.

2. The lounge device of claim 1 wherein said main frame includes first and second post means secured thereto, said main pi'vot being supported on said first post means and said third pair of links being pivoted on said second post means.

3. The lounge device of claim 1 further including an arm, said arm carrying first and second 'arm pivots thereon, said first arm pivot 'being pivoted to said back support member and said second arm pivot being pivoted to one of said third pair of links, said first arm pivot and said one of said third pair of links being arranged so that said arm moves substantially into said plane when said support members are moved into their substantially planar position a-nd so that said arm moves into arm rest position when said members are moved into their sedentary position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,098,910 6/1914 Klopping 5 55 1,143,974 6/1915 Klopping 5-55 1,670,555 5/1928 Ulrich 297- 2,189,325 2/ 1940 Rich 5- 69 2,701,603 2/1955 Coopersmith 5-152 X FOREIGN PATENTS 506,048 3/ 1949 Canada. 769,912 6/ 1934 France.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examner. J. T. MCCALL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LOUNGE DEVICE ADAPTED TO THE SUPPORT OF THE HUMAN BODY AND ADAPTED TO BE MOVED FROM A RECUMBENT TO A SEDENTARY POSITION, SAID LOUNGE DEVICE COMPRISING: A MAIN FRAME, SAID MAIN FRAME HAVING SIDES ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE LOUNGE DEVICE BY GROUND ENGAGEMENT, SAID MAIN FRAME BEING SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID AND COMPRISING THE GROUND ENGAGING STRUCTURE OF SAID LOUNGE DEVICE; SUPPORTING MEMBERS ON SAID LOUNGE DEVICE, SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE HUMAN BODY, SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS COMPRISING A LOWER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER, AN UPPER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER, A SEAT MEMBER AND A BACK SUPPORT MEMBER, SAID LOWER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID UPPER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER AT A FIRST PIVOT, SAID UPPER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER BEING PIVOTED TO SAID SEAT MEMBER AT A SECOND PIVOT, SAID SEAT MEMBER BEING PIVOTED TO SAID BACK SUPPORT MEMBER AT A THIRD PIVOT, AND SAID BACK SUPPORT MEMBER BEING PIVOTED TO SAID MAIN FRAME AT A MAIN PIVOT; AT LEAST FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PAIRS OF LINKS, SAID FIRST PAIR OF LINKS EACH BEING PIVOTED TO SAID MAIN FRAME AND TO SAID LOWER LEG SUPPORT MEMBER, SAID SECOND 